George v



T0 ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

GEORGE W. s. HALL, or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Letters Patent No, 74,68%, dated February 18, 1868.

BXERGISING-APPARATUS.

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Be it known that I, GEGRGE W. S. `HALIq'of the city and county of Baltimore, and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Exercising-Apparatus for Expanding the Chest; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description o' the same, referencebeing had 'to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part of this specification.

This apparatus has a horizontal bar suspended by a rope passing over a spring, which adapts said bar to yield somewhat under the weight of a; person, who may, by lgrasping the bar with both hands, throw the weight of his body upon hissarms, or suspend himself, in .order to expand and develop the muscles of the chest.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodyingmy invention. A

Figure 2 is a detached sectional view, showing the mode ofjoining the standards to the tie-beam at top.

Similar letters of reference represent corresponding parts in the two figures. Y.

In thedrawings, A A Al A1 Arepresent two pairs of standards, which are planted in the'groun'd-sills B B, jointed together, at a a, and connected at top by the cap-pice or tie-beam C'. D D are spring-boards, connecting the ground-sills B together. E is a horizontal bar, suspended at e to the rope Fby ring or other suitable connections, whence the said rope F passes upward through an aperture, c, inthe tie-beam C, and over a pulley, h,journalled in the centre of the spring H. From` the pulley the rope is carried toeither end of the tie-beam, and may be carried thence downward,v (resting upon a guide-pulley, al, as shown, or in a mere opening,` c'',),and

made fast to a. d run, G, j ournalled in one of the standards A, and a bracket, I, secured thereto, or it may be made fast to a cleat G1. The drum G is the preferred means for retaining the roperF, as'it "may berotated by a handle applied to thesquar-e,'g, of its journal, and thus made to wind or unwind the ropeF, in order to place` the bar at the proper height to suit the user, a. detent, g1, on the bracket I, being employed in conjunction with a. ratchet-wheel, g, on the journal of the drum,to hold the bar E in the desiredposition. 'One ofthe standards A A ofeac'h pair, .is `fitted into a mortise in the cap-piece C, while the other serves to support the latter, `as.

'shown in g. 2l The ends of the spring H may be `provided with slotshl, which permit them to playfreely upon the pins or screws h2, which attach the same to the cap-piece. rJlhe elastic yielding character imparted tu the suspensory bar by the spring H, Arelieves the shoulder-joints of the jar which they would receive if the bar were rigidly supported. The spring-boards D are also of service in thisY eonnectiomas they alord elastic bearingpoints for the feet.

An `eieciive Inodel of exercising vwith this apparatus is to grasp the bar E with both hands and throw the weight ofthe body lupon the 'bar above, and the spring-board below, alternately. The yielding character of the support of the bar E renders it superior tp the commonhorizontal b ar of'gymnasiums, and it possesses the additional'adva-ntage of c onstituting a. yielding swing. l The parts A Al B C D, are detachable from each other, so that the apparatus may he readily pnt up for use, or taken down for stowage or transportation. Braces of suitable formmay be applied to the upper corners or other partrof the frame to sustain it laterally.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent: i .Y

The combined arrangement of thev horizontal-bar E, adjustable suspension-rope F, and spring H, asand for the purposes set forth, I

G; W. s. HALL witnessesrl J. E. M. Bowan, Cms. D. Smm, 

